Rachael Maskell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 3 Jul 2025 · NHS 10-Year Plan · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my right hon. Friend, his Ministers and officials on putting together a vision for the NHS for the next 10 years. It will optimise how we live, but it is also really important that we can palliate how we die. Could he set out how he will ensure that we do not have a postcode lottery for specialist palliative care services, so that we can palliate well for everybody across our country? Will he meet with the leaders of the independent commission on palliative and end-of-life care to ensure that we get this right really quickly and for the future?

• 3 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  On Saturday, we mark the 80th anniversary of the greatest reforming Labour Government: the Attlee Government, which brought in the welfare state. I have to say I am so disappointed that the Government are pressing ahead with the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill—or should I call it the universal credit Bill, in the light of the fact that assessments for the health element will depend on the outcome of the Timms review? It seems therefore that we cannot press ahead with the Bill, not least if the Government have not learned the importance of co-production with disabled people. None of the deaf and disabled people’s organisations want this Bill to go ahead, yet they still have not been consulted.

• 1 Jul 2025 · Poverty Reduction · Hansard source

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  Many disabled people are really struggling right now. We know that three in 10 are living in poverty, as I can see in my York constituency, but I was particularly taken aback by the Women’s Budget Group report, which highlighted that three quarters of the people who will lose their personal independence payment and carer’s allowance are women. How will the Chancellor ensure that when fiscal decisions are made, we look in particular at the intersectionality between women, disabled people and other protected characteristics to ensure that they are not pushed further into poverty?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Poverty Reduction · Hansard source

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  3. What fiscal steps she plans to take to help reduce the number of disabled and sick people in poverty.

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  What the hon. Member says is so powerful. I urge all my colleagues to take with them the stories of their constituents. We are here because of them, and they expect us to serve them in this difficult vote. I, too, find it hard, as I have known my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms) for 30 years, and I know that he comes from a good place, but this Bill is just wrong. The hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) is absolutely right. If we can afford not to have a wealth tax, not to equalise capital gains and not to draw on the excess profits of corporate greed, we can afford PIP for a disabled person. We must clear the waiting lists, prevent people falling out of work, get physio to the injured, hold employers to account for their failings and make them open their doors. In assessments, we need to look not just at what somebody cannot do but at empowering them to do what they can. We should optimise health and opportunity and take a public health approach with social prescribing and advancing adaptive technology. Why not have a bridge between what we have now and where we are heading at the end of this process, so that nobody falls through the net? When they are managing discomfort, despair, pain and prejudice, are isolated and lonely, or their life has spiralled out of control, disabled people want anything but this Bill. They are already discriminated and dehumanised, so I plead that we do not leave them desperate, too. There is a heavy duty on us all, and it starts with compassion, kindness, safety and support. Disabled people want reform, but not by this broken Bill. My vote weighs heavy on me, as this is a matter of deep conscience, as it should be and will be for us all. As Nelson Mandela said: “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “That” to the end of the Question and add: “this House, whilst noting the need for the reform of the social security system, and agreeing with the Government’s principles for providing support to people into work and protecting people who cannot work, declines to give a Second Reading to the Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill because its provisions have not been subject to a formal consultation with disabled people, or co-produced with them, or their carers; because the Office for Budget Responsibility is not due to publish its analysis of the employment impact of these reforms until the autumn of 2025; because the majority of the additional employment support funding will not be in place until the end of the decade; because while acknowledging protection for current claimants, the Government has yet to produce its own impact assessment on the impact of future claimants of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit limited capability for work and related activity and the number of people, including children, who will fall into poverty or experience worsening mental or physical health as a result, nor how many carers will lose carers allowance; because the Government has not published an assessment of the impact of these reforms on health or care needs; and because the Government is still awaiting the findings of the Minister for Social Security and Disability’s review into the assessment for PIP and Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent review into the role of employers and government in boosting the employment of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. I put on record my thanks to you, Mr Speaker, for selecting the reasoned amendment that stands in my name and those of other Members, and—most importantly—in the names of 138 deaf and disabled people’s organisations that backed it and co-produced it, working alongside us. It is about time that we all recognised the ableism within our systems that has made disabled people feel so far away from policymaking. I am glad that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security and Disability will be looking at changing that—once and for all, I trust. On these big decisions, it is so important that disabled people are involved. My constituent sat in front of me with his gorgeous little girl, who thankfully had headphones on and was playing a kiddie’s game. He said that he would not get through this. He just about manages now—some days he gets up, others not, as his mental health is failing. He cannot work. Everything else has been taken from him, and the loss of this little bit of funding to help them get by—to give him just one ounce of dignity—was more than he could bear. Then the words came: “It would be better that I wasn’t here.” That was also his expectation. He has tried before. He will be safe now, but the one who follows will not. Another constituent felt dehumanised, as they would lose their independence to shower and dress, and others could not balance their books, as Scope’s disability price tag is £1,095 of extra costs every month. They face changes that would switch independence to dependence—dependence on social care, food banks, and pleading for emergency funds or seeking charity. Those with fluctuating conditions who came to see me just do not know where their future lies. These Dickensian cuts belong to a different era and a different party. They are far from what this Labour party is for—it is a party to protect the poor, as is my purpose, for I am my brother’s keeper. These are my constituents, my neighbours, my community and my responsibility, and I cannot cross by on the other side, as one who is better known than the 150,000 who will be pushed further into poverty. As so many of us fear and as the evidence shows, since 600 people took their lives under the Tories’ brutal reforms, the tragedy of this ideology could be worse. I will fight for the purpose of politics—for these people’s livelihoods and for their lives. It is a matter of deep conscience for me to ensure that for once, these precious people are treated with dignity, so that they matter for being and not just for doing. Sixteen million; in the chaos and confusion, where the sequence of consultations on the Bill makes no sense to them, no sense to me and, if we are honest, no sense to any of us, they beg the Government to just stop and start again by listening to their voices. At this 11th hour, I plead for the Bill’s withdrawal, which would be met with relief and praise. Let us consult, co-produce, incorporate the Mayfield review findings and accommodate those of the Timms review first. We should let the voices of older women, whose physical health is declining as they work into later life, come to the fore. Refuge says that disabled victims of domestic violence will not be able to leave to find their place of safety without PIP. They should be heard. The olive branch of grace for current claimants offers no mercy to those who are to come. Disabled people have fought all their lives not to have the ladder pulled up behind them. We are talking about 430,000 people on PIP losing £4,500, 730,000 people on universal credit losing £3,000, and 150,000 people being pushed into deeper poverty. There is a reason that we are a dystopian state of excessive wealth and abject poverty: Governments focus on what they value most, and these people never get the attention. When people are left behind, it pressures services, shortens lives and breaks societies.

• 30 Jun 2025 · Welfare Reform · Hansard source

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  I welcome progress, but I cannot countenance sick and disabled people being denied support to enable them to be independent in the future, and 150,000 people being pushed into deeper poverty. Nor can disabled people across our country support these measures. It is a matter of conscience. Will the Secretary of State set out why we are voting on these matters tomorrow, when the Timms review means that there could be real changes to the criteria used in assessments for people to score four points? It feels like signing a blank cheque.

• 26 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The Leader of the House extols the virtue of parliamentary democracy, yet over half of MPs reject the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. We have spoken to our constituents and to organisations representing disabled people. They reject the Bill, because it will cause harm to disabled people. Their voices have not been heard, much though we are trying to amplify them in this place. Will the Leader of the House urge the Cabinet to withdraw the Bill, and instead allow a general debate on how we support disabled people?

• 26 Jun 2025 · G7 and NATO Summits · Hansard source

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  Diplomacy is the best way to prevent and de-escalate risk and ensure long-term security. What discussions took place on how to escalate the focus on diplomacy in the middle east in order to resolve the situation in Gaza—clearly, the architecture is not delivering at pace—as well as on the forgotten war in Sudan?

• 25 Jun 2025 · Science and Innovation Funding · Hansard source

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  6. What steps he is taking to distribute funding for science and innovation.

• 25 Jun 2025 · Science and Innovation Funding · Hansard source

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  York and North Yorkshire is a national leader in the bioeconomy. BioYorkshire will create 4,000 jobs, as well as start-ups and spin-outs. It requires £67 million to build its facilities over the next decade, but it will return £215 million back into the economy. When will the science plan recognise the economic and scientific impact of the research base? Can we have a meeting to talk about the brilliant BioYorkshire project?

• 24 Jun 2025 · Department for Education · Hansard source

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  I am really grateful for the work of the Education Committee, which is excellently chaired by my hon. Friend. Does she agree that cutting the value of grants to families from the adoption and special guardianship support fund will put more pressure on children’s social care and leave children without the vital support they need?

• 23 Jun 2025 · UK Modern Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  York Central, our biggest brownfield site, will release 12,500 new jobs in advanced and digital rail and the digital creative sector, as well as in the bio-economy mentioned in my right hon. Friend’s brilliant industrial strategy. Will he, however, ensure that innovation hubs at the centre of these cluster developments are able to come on-stream and get the funding they need to unlock these sites?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend is right to focus on de-escalation and diplomacy. However, we know that the joint comprehensive plan of action did not curtail Iran’s enrichment of uranium, so what lesson will he learn as he rebuilds the architecture for diplomacy to ensure that Iran cannot rebuild its nuclear-enriched uranium?

• 23 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. With 800,000 people not going to be in receipt of PIP by 2029-30, we have to be honest in this House. We all know, don’t we, that many of those people are just not able to access the healthcare that they need, such as for mental health, neurodiversity and physical health? As a result, they will not be able to work, but they will be pushed into poverty because of these reforms. Will the Secretary of State please, please, please pause these reforms to ensure that those people, who have desperate health needs, are not forced into poverty?

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting people from York Foodbank, one of many food banks in my constituency. It told me that last year it handed out emergency food parcels to 8,700 people in my constituency. That number has doubled since covid, and numbers continue to rise, yet the food supply does not. The assessment is that as a result of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, about 400,000 adults will be pushed into further poverty, so will the Leader of the House ensure that food banks have the support that they need to support our communities?

• 19 Jun 2025 · Animal Disease Outbreaks · Hansard source

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  I am deeply distressed that the Government are planning to extend the badger cull, because the evidence shows that with good testing and biosecurity, we can bring down rates of tuberculosis. I heard what the representative from Gatcombe farm said when they visited Parliament just a couple of weeks ago. Will the Minister look at the evidence? Before moving forward with a badger cull, will he look at biosecurity measures that could ensure that we really get on top of bovine TB?

• 18 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  I welcome the hon. Member’s intervention. This just goes to show the extent to which our public servants put themselves in harm’s way, often running towards danger on our behalf. When people are serving us—our constituents—day in, day out, they deserve the protections that we are aiming to introduce in this legislation. Let us look at the scale of the abuse our transport workers are facing. Transport for London says that 10% of workers are physically assaulted, with 90% verbally abused and 60% experiencing violence at work, and that is just in the last 18 months. In fact, 10,493 TfL workers had incidents of violence or aggression perpetrated against them. More widely, the British Transport Police highlighted in 2024 that 7,027 offences were committed, and just in the last year there were 7,405 crimes, with 3,650 violent crimes. And there has been a 47% increase since 2021. Out transport workers will not be safe unless more measures are included in this legislation. We are also hearing from other groups of workers, so we need to look holistically at the threats they are facing and how we can put those protections in place to ensure that specific measures are available to help keep them safe. That would also be better for the public. We should also look at the work the RMT has done. It has surveyed its women workers, and 40% of transport workers who are women have been sexually harassed in the last year, and that, too, is on the rise. Two thirds of RMT members have experienced abuse, violence or antisocial behaviour, but 40% have not reported it as they are not confident that they will get the recourse they need. This is having an impact on their health and wellbeing. The level of post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by transport workers is double that of the general population. That is why they are calling for legal protection for all public transport workers—because of the scale and the prevalence. Moving forward with this will also deter perpetrators and support workers. It will improve action and response times and the support that is available. We in this House need only think back to the covid pandemic. Belly Mujinga was spat at while working at Victoria station and, sadly, lost her life. She was there serving faithfully as a sales clerk during that period. Her union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, has said: “While we remember Belly today, our union continues to fight for safe and healthy workplaces for all of our members.” That is why I am here today: to fight for them alongside the trade unions, the British Transport Police, the rail industry bodies, the Rail Delivery Group, Network Rail and all of the transport unions—standing together, saying they need more measures to keep workers safe on our transport systems. We often hear about other safety risks that transport workers place themselves in, but today it is about their own personal safety, and I am sure this House will hear it. So I am asking for clear support for new clause 11, but of course I am willing to meet the Minister to discuss how we can advance the cause of transport workers and hope that, if we cannot make these amendments today, we will be able to do so in the other place.

• 18 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as a proud member of the trade union movement. No one should go to work with the uncertainty each day that their safety might be put at risk. We as a Government clearly support that for emergency workers, and of course we are legislating for retail workers too. New clause 48, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley (Anneliese Midgley), addresses delivery workers, and today I stand to speak for my new clause 11, which would do the same for transport workers. Every day, transport workers face verbal abuse, sexual harassment or physical assault, whether on bus, tram or ferry. Transport workers, alongside their trade union, the RMT, are calling for new measures to protect them at work: first, the introduction of a specific offence of assaulting or abusing a transport worker; and secondly, an extension in the maximum sentence, from six to 12 months—not least if sentences are now to be served in the community.

• 17 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  If this is about safety, then we also have to think about the safety of the baby. In my constituency, a baby had a live birth at 30 weeks’ gestation. Tragically, that baby went on to live for just four days, struggling over that period, and then died. Must we not consider the baby’s safety as much as the woman’s safety?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Disabled People in Poverty · Hansard source

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  The diagnosis is wrong and the treatment is no cure; all these cuts will do is to displace the cost and displace the problem. It was not disabled people who broke the NHS waiting lists. It was not disabled people who removed the access to mental health services. It is not disabled people who are experiencing a healthier life expectancy. It is the system, which has failed them for 14 years, that has done that to them—which is why we must change direction and not progress with these cuts. Above all, employers have a major responsibility. Of course Access to Work is not working when people have to wait 85 days to get the support they need. When life spirals out of control, people need a state behind them. The sequencing is wrong, the proposals are wrong and ultimately the outcomes will be devastating.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Child Sexual Exploitation: Casey Report · Hansard source

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  I welcome the pace and focus that the Home Secretary has brought to Baroness Casey’s report. She is right to highlight the risk of the online space and the rapidity with which it has become a focus. Can she give assurances that protocols will change accordingly, so that we look for the information that we do not know about, and that the cases of survivors and victims who have been criminalised will be quashed, so that those people do not carry convictions for the exploitation that they experienced?

• 16 Jun 2025 · SEND Strategy · Hansard source

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  12. What steps she is taking to develop a SEND strategy.

• 16 Jun 2025 · SEND Strategy · Hansard source

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  Given the sharp rise in diagnosis in York of children with SEND, we have established a SEND-focused family hub. We are also reviewing other services. I am particularly concerned about the culture within schools. We need nurturing and inclusive education, so that we have a therapeutic learning environment. Will the Minister say what she is doing to ensure that schools, local authorities and others can feed into the White Paper to share best practice and raise concerns?

• 13 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  On that point, will the hon. Member give way?